Sure you know the basic etiquette, but at the end of the day are you writing something someone actually wants to read?

“Attention is the business currency of our age.” Says Hung Lee, recruiting influencer and Co-Founder of Workshape.io. “So how do we get that attention and keep it?”

For Hung, the answer is email. As the creator of recruiting brainfood, the talent acquisition newsletter eagerly awaited by over 9,000 people weekly, he knows the power of a successful campaign, unfortunately so does everyone else. According to a recent study from salesforce for every dollar spent, companies can expect $38 in ROI. So needless to say the competition for attention in the inbox is steep, which has to lead to a communication overload…

We all have an unconscious relationship with our email inbox, one that goes beyond our rational mind, deep into the reptilian center of our most basic instinct: stress!  Every message is an interruption, an ask, or a demand on our time, and for many, even opening the email app on our phones initiates an involuntary groan.

Any professional today is constantly at battle with their overloaded inbox. There are books of strategy, software solutions, sorting features, and virtual assistants all to help workers manage the incessant flow of information. Though the idea that it’s the recipient’s job to tackle the communication overload, seems a bit backward, maybe it’s time for those implementing outbound campaigns to check themselves before they wreck email for us all.

That’s what Hung Lee wanted to do in October of 2016 with the first recruiting brainfood. He decided that rather than making a ‘demand’ on the recipient he was going to ‘give’, and maybe – just maybe – with this approach, he could access the slow thinking part of the mind, that makes rational decisions, instead of the stress-induced reactive mind, that lashes out at every perceived threat.

He realized one day, that he was another voice in the inbox cacophony, and wanted to go from asking to give, here’s what we learned from this marketing maven during his session “What I learned from sending 250,000 Emails” at Social Recruiting Days 2018.

Make it about mission!

“What is my value-add to the person I am contacting?” Should be the first question you ask yourself before sending an email. Make it clear, so the recipient can understand, right away, that you are there to help, not to take.

Consistency equals credibility.

Consistency is key to building audience trust, especially when it comes to both cadence and style. Stick to your schedule and your format so that people become familiar with your messaging, and learn to look forward to it!

Give-give-give.

In the immortal words of the spice girls “taking is too easy, that’s the way it is.” Taking/asking/demanding/pushing are quick ways to destroy your social credibility. The favors will come back around if you focus on giving value and building trust.

Have an opinion.

An audience will want some commentary and context about why you are sending them certain articles or information. It may feel uncomfortable to share your take, but authentic thoughts are what gives your campaign personality, and helps your audience connect to your content on a deeper level. It shows you read what you are sending and you have a clear idea of why it’s important for them.

Separate scared and profane.

When it comes time for business, think about using a different channel. Your email is where you’ve created familiarity so now you can connect on LinkedIn or Slack without muddying your email mission.

Bonus point: Be human!  Some of the best engagement comes from when you make a mistake and say “whoops, my bad!”

These are just five of ten awesome points from this audience-builder extraordinaire so be sure to catch him live if you can!

You’ve put it off as long as you can, but now you have to hire. Until now your team has handled it all, with a little help here and there, but it’s just too much to manage by yourself. You have too many fires to put out; you need more people, good people, to handle some internal conflicts brewing, benefit and/or compensation requests, compliance (and you could use some help with strategic planning as well).

Maybe, you have to hire a human resource professional to help you with your growing company. Or maybe, you need to replace an HR professional that has left.

How to Interview Someone in the HR Industry

Ideally you want the person that is going to come in, read your mind, make your life easier and can be trusted. Anyone that you interview should be minimally qualified, so let’s assume you’ve jumped that hurdle. Now unless you’re clairvoyant, you’re going to need some help asking the right questions to determine who has the passion, the desire, and the guts to be the best candidate.

Here are a few of my favorite interview questions and why.

1. What do you like about human resources? Why do you want to be an human resource professional?

We’re looking for passion, people! We want someone who loves the profession and is not just doing it for a pay check. We don’t want anyone mailing it in and getting complacent. We want HR innovators that want to use the latest trends to help achieve our goals.

2. Tell me about a time you made a mistake and what was the resolution and outcome?

I love this question because it’s really about accountability. You need someone that is not afraid to be honest about past mistakes and the corrective actions that they took to ensure it does happen again, the lesson learned. We know that everyone makes mistakes at work. No one’s perfect; so if the candidate says, “ I don’t make mistakes, or I can’t think of any, or I have so much experience that I don’t make mistakes” –  that’s a FAIL. What I’m hearing is, “I am too stubborn and self-conscious to admit that I’ve made mistakes.” So there’s your mistake, pretending as if you don’t make them! If they do give a specific example, listen very closely to how the interviewee overcame the example mistake; this will tell you a lot about their resilience and problem solving ability.

3. What are some of your weaknesses? What are your strengths?

Again, I’m looking for introspection and self-evaluation. This is a very standard interview questions across all positions. I don’t want to hear that you have no weaknesses because that’s a lie. How an interviewee talks about their own weaknesses will give you an idea about how he or she will talk about company weaknesses. The same idea applies when you listen to his or her strengths. You want someone that can inspire pride but be wary of a long unrealistic list of feats that makes one wonder why this person is even in the job market. He or she may be giving you the run around. Look for someone level-headed.

4. What do you look for in an organization and team dynamic?

Personally I like this question because the answer helps me to know what kind of employee you’re going to be. No one wants to be micromanaged but there must be a level of accountability. You must be able to work alone or under the pressure of a deadline without flaking out. You want someone that can be trusted to complete tasks and make decisions without too much coddling.

See also:

• 10 Most Common Illegal Interview Questions
• Identifying the 10 Soft Skills of a Great Intern
• Most Important Job Interview Question – “When Have You Failed?”

So now I got to tell you my least favorite HR interview questions. And these have actually been asked of me or I’ve heard someone ask them. Don’t be a victim to this kind of interview bias.

1. What person living or dead would you most like to have dinner with?

How about yo momma (don’t say that candidates)!  Nevertheless, this question bothers me because it leads the candidate to a place where they could be discriminated against. You want to stay away from entertainment icons, religious leaders and athletes. For instance you may think of Jesus Christ or Elvis Presley or Michael Jordan, but it just so could happen that the interviewer doesn’t like any of those leaders. Now you don’t “fit.” Candidates, if you get this question, I recommend going with a family member.

2. Tell me something that you probably shouldn’t tell me. 

Uh nothing! Just don’t see the point to this question. Again it leads the interviewee to talk about something inappropriate like, “There are some primo chicks in here.” Candidates, consider steering the conversation back to something work related, such as, “I’m huge fan of Macs. What type of computers / operating systems does the office use?”

When interviewing a person for an HR position you want to make sure you are looking someone who has a passion for HR because that minimizes the risk of them getting frustrated and quitting. You want someone who is knowledgeable and resourceful. You want someone who relies on skills just as much as experience, because things change quickly and you need someone who can adopt and is open-minded. Sometimes people with a lot of experience become entitled know-it-alls unwilling to learn new concepts or strategies (think social media, HR). Hiring decisions are costly, especially for a small growing business you want to be certain that you make the best choice available.

Hope this helps, what questions would you ask – or not ask – when hiring someone for your HR department?

For more information on how to interview.

Chris Fields is an HR professional and leadership guy who blogs and dispenses great (not just good) advice at Cost of Work. Connect with Chris via email at chris@costofwork.com.

Picture this: you’re sitting across the conference table from a potential employee and you’ve got your standard interview questions ready to go. You’ve noticed from their resume that they’ve included some form of experiential travel under their education background. Do you ask them about it? What do you assume about the candidate from their travel experiences? How does it relate to the position you’re trying to fill?

For anyone in the travel or international education industry, these questions aren’t unusual to ask. After all, most positions we’re looking to fill are typically related to meaningful and educational travel. But what about careers where travel experience isn’t necessarily a requirement or qualification? Do you still bring it up as part of the interview process? In short, the answer is, “Yes.”

I am someone who has been on both the receiving and inquiring end of these questions and in my role with GoAbroad.com I’ve become attuned to looking for transferable job skills in every travel experience. With that in mind, here are a few essential things to keep in mind to during the hiring process.

Demonstrations of Personal Growth 

More than anything, the way a candidate talks about their travel experience can reveal a lot about their character. What do they emphasize the most about their time spent studying abroad? What did they find to be the biggest challenge to volunteering? Why did they choose to travel to a particular destination? The anecdotes they share with you will help give a better idea of the person beyond the resume, and the interests that likely led them to your conference table.

If a candidate is going to include travel experiences on a resume, there’s a good reason behind it. Pay attention to the amount of detail they give: do they brush over a subject or find realistic, tangible examples to showcase?

HOW they talk about their travel experiences will give you clues to their work style strategic thinking abilities, and personality. Do they focus on how good the food was in Spain, or do they reiterate that trying new foods in a foreign country relates to taking risks as an employee? It’s these simple nuances in phrasing that will demonstrate how much a candidate can turn travel experiences and personal growth into transferable job skills. As an employer, this will definitely stand out to you if you’re aware of it.

What Translates & What Doesn’t

More often than not, I find that most meaningful travel experiences can translate to a career. But not all travel experiences are created equal, and there may be details that don’t translate to the specific job at hand.

Experiential travel by definition refers to “learning from experience” and a candidate’s choice in destination, or type of travel, may not encompass who they presently are or their long-term career goals with your organization. Rather than immediately assume it’s not going to work, it’s better to rely on your questions during the interview to gauge if they’re a good fit for your company.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that while some experiences may not translate, that doesn’t make them less worthwhile. In the same way that quantitative results are important for measuring success, so are the qualitative ones. For example, an individual’s ability to enjoy living in a new country might not immediately come across as noteworthy for all industries. Get the candidate talking about WHY they enjoyed living abroad, though, and the employee worth hiring will find an avenue of translation.

Prioritizing Travel Experiences By Industry

Whether you’re in the travel industry, the engineering industry, or the medical field, you can always make travel experiences a priority during interview process. It’s like we tell students looking to study abroad, but who feel they can’t go abroad because of their major field of study. We remind them that with a flexible attitude, and a bit of persistence, of course they can travel abroad.

It’s no different when it comes to asking about travel during the hiring process. Whatever you might be hiring for, there is so much you can learn about a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses when they’re talking about how they missed an important flight, and had to make the best of it, or got lost in a foreign city where they didn’t speak the language.

Don’t be afraid to broach the subject just because travel experience isn’t on the desired qualifications list. The variety of questions related to travel may vary across industries, but they all have one common denominator: meaningful travel is important and helps mold individuals into informed and global citizens of the world.

As far as initial impressions go, you can’t ask for a more worthy candidate than that.

Tiffany Harrison first ignited her passion for meaningful travel by living abroad in Scotland, and working in public relations in San Francisco. She now cultivates her skills with GoAbroad.com as the Outreach Manager, is an avid tea-drinker who lives by the words of Jane Austen, and considers her passport a map to discovering the world. Connect with Tiffany on her blog, What Would Jane Do?

SmartRecruiters makes hiring easy.

There are all sorts of social proof when it comes to hiring a copywriter for your business website. Klout isn’t always the most efficient measure, but it is one that many will look atwithout considering the context of the score. Remember to look at networks like LinkedIn to see if the writer keeps a professional profile and if they have any recommendations from previous employers.

Here are some questions you should ask the next time you need to hire an SEO copywriter.

1. Can we talk on the phone?

A copywriter needs to know more about your business. You are their best resource for understanding tone, voice, your audience, potential customers and more. Never email a potential hire with an email that says I need X blogs by X date for X $. We are professionals, and an email like this is probably going to go straight to the trash. Ask for a phone call and do a proper interview.

2. Can you write a sample? And/or provide samples of your past work?

Some copywriters do not like to give away samples. Simply because they feel that a client will steal the work and they will not get paid. If the person seems irritated let them know it is because you want to see if they will enjoy the work. Some topics are easier to write than others and that will vary from person to person. Asking for a sample allows you to see their writing ability and gives them a feel for what the work will be like. However, some of the best copywriters will not give samples, and you probably don’t want to eliminate them for your talent pool, so consider asking for past work on relevant subject matters.

3. Do you write for any particular niche?

In SEO, niches are everything.

You might want to hire someone who has written for your niche successfully in the past. You should look at their portfolio to see their ability to do research and write copy. There are good generalists out there too, so do not necessarily count someone out because your niche is new to them. You will be able to get a feel for their writing process when you talk with them on the phone, which you should always do.

4. Do you do SEO campaign tracking, community management, or social media management?

Some clients will ask me to do the above tasks for free along with my copywriting duties. Expect to pay for these extra services and ask your potential hire about their abilities before you need it. If a candidate has performed these taks before, this may indicate that he or she may have a stronger grasp on what drives results in copy writing.

5. What is your turn around time?

It is important to tell your potential copywriter what you expect from them, including deadlines. If a person will be blogging let them know how many you need per month/week. Ask them how long it will take them to write. Be upfront, and let the copywriter know if this is a one time engagement or if you will need them for several months.

Again, I cannot underscore how important the phone call interview is when you are considering hiring an SEO copywriter. I know email is much more convenient, but the call will give the employer and potential hire the chance to get a feel for each other. A simple email exchange is not enough to find out the information you need to make a sound decision.

Susan Silver is a contract copywriter with three years of experience writing for the web. She is a generalist that focuses on bringing the heart to her client’s stories. Susan is also a contributor to 12most where she focuses on the writing journey. Photo Credit RealWebSEO.

SmartRecruiters makes it easy to Find Great Copy Writers with direct integration with PaidContent.org, MediaBistro, AdRants, and TalentZoo.

Part-time jobs are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to a traditional full-time job. In a variety of industries, from medicine to accounting to graphic design, professionals across the board seem to be turning to part-time schedules. For example, “in 2011, 22% of male doctors and 44% of female doctors worked part time, up from 7% and 29% in 2005,” according to the American Medical Association.

No matter the industry, professionals seek out part-time jobs for a variety of reasons. Some want to spend more time with their children, others are looking for supplemental income or to stay active in retirement, and still others see value in having multiple part-time jobs for variety and experience, rather than one full-time job.

Employers can tap into this pool of well-educated, experienced professionals to fill their part-time jobs. The key is knowing how to hire reliable part-time employees. Here are four tips:

• Choose your part-time jobs carefully. When you’re either creating a part-time job, or deciding to make a full-time job into a part-time job, be sure the role is compatible with a part-time schedule. Are you trying to fit too much responsibility into too few hours each week? Is the job compatible with job sharing so that you might hire two part-time employees? Some jobs are simply better done by one person on a full-time basis, so evaluate the job’s requirements, responsibilities, and how others at your organization would be affected by the part-time role.

• Write specific descriptions. Because the talent pool for part-time jobs varies wildly, from teenagers looking to make some spending money, all the way to PhDs and professionals with years of experience, writing a well-crafted job description is essential to attracting the right applicants. Recruiters looking for the most reliable candidates for their part-time jobs would do well to spend more time in the hiring process. Write a detailed job description that plainly spells out the level and type of experience you seek, and make it obvious that although this is a part-time position, the person hired will still play a critical role at the company.

• Choose where you post the job carefully. Bigger is not always better, and sometimes you don’t want to post your job opening where the most people will see it, but rather where the right people will see it. Try smaller, niche job boards that specialize in industry-specific job listings. Or websites that concentrate on part-time job listings like FlexJobs. These types of sites cater to professionals seeking serious roles with part-time schedules. By using a smaller, more focused site, you’ll attract better-qualified candidates and spend less time sifting through applications, and more time finding the most reliable part-time employee.

• Interview with purpose. Again, the idea of a part-time job often carries less weight or importance than a full-time job, even if the responsibilities and tasks are much the same. Hiring someone to work fewer hours doesn’t mean spending less time carefully interviewing and screening applicants. Ask questions specific to part-time schedules: Why are they looking for a part-time job? Is working part-time something they can see themselves doing long-term? What is their experience working part-time vs. full-time? Interview part-time applicants with as much attention to detail as full-time applicants and you’re likely to spot the best talent for your position.

The best tip for hiring well-qualified, experienced, and reliable part-time employees is to really do the work of recruiting and hiring. Treat part-time hiring as less-than and you’ll wind up with less-than applicants who are just as dedicated to working part-time as you’ve been to hiring them. Treat a part-time hire as an investment, just like a full-time hire, and you’ll find yourself with quality applicants and reliable hires.

Sara Sutton Fell is the CEO and Founder of FlexJobs, the award-winning career website for telecommuting, flexible, freelance, and part-time jobs. FlexJobs lists jobs that offer some kind of flexibility, from entry-level through executive level in over 50 career categories, and its recruiting services are free to employers. Sara and the entire FlexJobs team, which includes mainly part-time staffers, telecommute from their home offices and work flexible schedules year-round. Sara lives and works in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and two sons. Photo Credit (from another Partner) MediaBistro.

We recommend channeling your inner Columbo, start by building rapport, than gradually unravel the onion to see if the student, has the right skills, cultural fit, and professionalism to work at your company.

Step 1: Deliver a great interview and sell the role.

Just because you are interviewing a student doesn’t mean they don’t have options.  Hiring great interns is as competitive as hiring top-notch employees and you will want to use all the same tactics to present your company and the opportunity in the best light.

The basics of this mean show up on time, be prepared having reviewed the students’ resume, and bring energy and excitement to the meeting.

We also recommend starting every interview by getting to know the candidate, where they are from, where they went to school, and building rapport.  We then recommend asking them for permission for you to do a 5-minute overview on the company and the role.  This is an ideal opportunity to educate them on your company and team, and to sell them on why it is such an exceptional place to work.

Step 2:  Use your detective’s skills to test for passion and cultural fit.

Recent grads, and especially current students, don’t typically have deep professional experience, so their ability to tell a story of why they’d be a good fit for your company is essential.  Some questions that can do just that include:

• What are you studying and why?

• How did you learn about our internship and why did you want to apply? (My personal favorite!)

and

• Why are you a particularly good fit for our company?

All of these questions test whether a student researched your position and is truly excited for the role.  Genuine excitement makes a huge difference at the intern level, because often these students need to be taught skills from the ground up.

Step 3: Put on the heat.

We like to progress from easier to harder questions with students.  Students can be nervous will interviewing, so helping them get comfortable, helps you make sure you are testing for the right skills.  However, in the second half of the interview we recommend pushing digging in a bit deeper on their skills and skill limits:

• Can you tell me a bit more about your experience at Widget Corp?

 

• How did you increase signups for the email newsletter by 20%?

 

• What tools did you use?  Which worked and which didn’t?

 

• How have you advanced your marketing knowledge outside of class?

We also like hypotheticals, for example if you are interviewing a PR intern you might ask:

• If we wanted to get press in the biggest dog blogs in the world, and had access to over 100,000 dog owners to run a survey, what questions would you ask, and how would you go about reaching out to the bloggers to get them to write the article ultimately?

Step 4:  “Just one more thing.”

Columbo is famous for using the last part of an interview when everyone is most comfortable, to draw critical conclusions.

Every internship interview you have should end with you asking students if they have any more questions about the role, company, yourself, process, or company culture.  Oftentimes student have questions about the structure, hours, or responsibilities of an internship position and letting them ask questions helps make sure you have addressed any lingering concerns they might have.  Even more important though, students should use this opportunity to take the info you have given them and ask a relevant and more in-depth question showing their ability to comprehend and communicate – testing for this is hugely important.

While every company needs to develop their own interview process and strategy this model can make a big difference when trying to get a feel for students who oftentimes are quite inexperienced.  Ultimately, you should let the student do the talking, and ask deeper and deeper questions on the areas that are most important for success at your company, just like Columbo would do.

Nathan Parcells is co-founder and Director of Marketing at InternMatch. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, Nathan joined long-time friend and co-founder, Andrew Maguire in starting InternMatch to build a better way for students to find great internships. Photo Credit DVDBeaver

When you interview a SEO/SEM marketing manager, evaluate for best practices, failing fast, and data driven. Ask:

• What do you like about marketing?

An open ended question gets the interview going. Talk for a few minutes about the industry. Do they get that marketing is about getting the goods in hands of customers who would benefit from them (whether the customers know this yet or not). A SEO/SEM marketing manager must know the industry standards and have that I’m-a-step-ahead-of-the-competition mindset. Will the candidate find reward in doing his or her job well? Observe the enthusiasm in which the candidate talks about marketing tasks and accomplishments. You want people that love what they do.

• Where do you see room for improvement on our website?  

Now, don’t expect a full SEOmoz analysis, but do expect a couple observations. For a talented SEO candidate, it doesn’t take much time on a website to notice the website is not perfect. A prepared candidate should have at least spent some time on your website before the interview. Listen to their suggestions. If you know much about your website, you may hear some things you know, such as there are no meta tags on the “About Page,” but hopefully you’ll hear a suggestion you haven’t considered. Does this new suggestion make sense with the best practices you already know? The explanation  and ensuing conversation will not only test the candidate’s knowledge of best practices, but it will also test the potential SEO/SEM marketing manager’s ability to work with the new team on an SEO strategy.

[EDITOR’S UPDATE: As the IrishRecruiter has pointed out in the comments section, you don’t want to scare the candidate away, or expect to form an action plan off the conversation from this question. The goal is to learn about the candidate’s bility to form impressions of websites and branding.  A safer version of this question is: “Where do you see room for improvement at www.AnyOtherCompany’s.com?” It’s best to pick a website you know a bit about, so you can weigh their understanding / perspective on Internet growth.]

• How have you successfully reached CPA targets in the past (for paid search)? And when have you failed to do so?

A SEM marketing manager must always be thinking about the cost per acquisition (CPA). Obviously, you want someone that has successfully acquired the right type of people (at the right price) to the website. With search engine marketing, you want someone who has pushed the limits. Someone who has tried new things, measured results, and continuously optimized.  Fail fast, fail cheap. Hearing a SEM marketing manager talk about why an ad/s failed, will give you a feel for how they will adapt when a marketing campaign does not work out as planned.

When interviewing an SEO/SEM marketing manager, remember that this person should eat and sleep results. You want someone that has the ability to recognize the variables and accurately measure the variations in outcomes For SEO, you want someone who has the vision to see what quality terms can be improved upon in Google rankings. For SEM, you want someone who is data-driven, thinking in terms of A/B testing, and finding reward in running multiple tests in order to find the optimal advertisement or landing page. Make a job offer to a marketer who loves keeping up with the evolution of Google’s search engine.

For more interviewing help read:

• How to Interview a Salesperson

• How to Interview a Project Manager

• How to Interview a Consulting Partner

• Or consider sharing your knowledge of How to Interview for another postion.

This year for the first time SXSW is hosting a Career Tech Expo with more than 66 companies represented. Also included in their festivities is an all night hackathon where coders can showcase their skills. While these type of events are common among Silicon Valley companies, they are new to SXSW and are a great way to engage candidates and build relationships in a highly competitive job search industry.

But for many companies who are not targeting the highly competitive engineer and developer candidate marketer, a recruiter can still benefit from conferences like SXSW.  Here are a few ideas before you arrive in Austin.

• Conference Database.  Many large conferences provide attendees a networking platform online in which to develop relationships prior to the actual event.  SXSW’s online platform is called SXSocial.  You can search and message fellow attendees.  This is a great sourcing tool and starting point to recruit candidates before, during, and after the event.

• Host Your Own Event.  This is my third year attending SXSW and also my third year to host a cocktail and networking mixer at SXSW.  The event is unofficial and my only cost aside from marketing and PR is the expense of picking up the cost of drink and food for my guests.  While the event is open to the public, I have privately invited individuals from my intended target audience using recommendations of those within my trusted networking and social networking platforms like LinkedIn.

• Hash tags.  These are so important in culling and developing a list of attendees who you want to connect with at SXSW using the microblogging site Twitter (for recruiting).  You can search by the zip code as well as key words contained within tweets and bios.  These are in real time and can be effectively used to build relationships even if you are not able to attend the conference or event. Notable hashtags are: #sxsw, #sxswi, #sxswchat, #techcareerexpo, #tnlaustin, and #socialsiesta.

• Attend Sessions Your Target Candidate Would.  If you are recruiting for a specific type of candidate at a large event like SXSW, the sheer size makes it nearly impossible that you will happen to bump into the perfect recruit.  Attend sessions and events that are of interest to your target candidate.  Tweet during the session using the secondary session hash tag and work to build relationships with those that are in the session. Introduce yourself to those sitting around you as well as the speaker for maximum effect.

Recruiting at conferences and events an extremely effective way to build relationships and promote your employer brand.  Develop a strategy and plan of attack in advance ensuring that members of your team work together to cast a target, specific, and wide net. And most of all learn something new, meet talented people, and enjoy SXSW!

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.

1. How many concurrent projects do you manage, and of those, what is the size of those projects? 

The answer to this question will give you a sense of their ability to juggle multiple initiatives, as well as be a gauge to whether they are handling large, meaty projects, or just little 2-weekers.

2. What’s the nature of the team’s you have managed in terms of size and reporting arrangement?

Did they do matrixed project management, line management, offshore/offsite, coordinating between vendors, consultants and internal staff? How many were they managing? This will give you a very strong sense of the complexity of their ability to keep a project going even when it means spreading their scope of influence far and wide.

3. What types/scopes of projects have you managed and what was your success on them?

This is the nuts/bolts of what they have done. How long have their projects gone, what technologies/types of projects have they led/implemented, what was their budget, and did they meet deadlines and budgets?

4. What project management methodologies/approaches/tools do you use?

This can provide a few key bits of information. Aside from the obvious – do they have expertise with MS Project and/or Agile/Scrum, it can also be an indicator if they are a methodology agnostic or wedded to one approach. Either answer may work for you, but it’s important to know if they will be flexible in adapting an approach that works for your environment, or will be forceful about implementing their preferred approach.

5. What is an example of a project which was going off track, and how did you get it back on plan?

Once again, there is not necessarily a right answer, but how they answer may indicate if they are right for your environment. Project Managers often walk the tightrope of being accountable for project delivery, while having no line management power over the resources that need to get the job done. In some environments, a more forceful approach is required to whip things into shape. In others, a gentler touch is needed.

Whether you need a diplomat or a dictator, the questions above will help you to identify not only if the person can effectively manage the type of projects you have in your pipeline, but also if they have the type of personality which will effectively prosper in your unique environment.

For more information on how to interview.

Prior to turning to the dark side of recruiting, Janine Davis was in technology herself, which gives her a leg up in terms of knowing what acronyms can go with other acronyms. She is the Principal of Fetch Recruiting, which specializes in LA tech recruiting for startup, high growth and web companies.

To post jobs to all the best tech job sites, make sure to Signup for SmartRecruiters. Free Software Forever.

Please share your interview techniques. Also check out  How to Interview a Salesperson or How to Interview a Consulting Partner.

SmartRecruiters is starting a blog series: “How to Interview a _____ .” With this series, SmartRecruiters hopes to provide helpful advice for an interviewer of any position. We want practitioners to help practitioners in order to make recruiting more social.

To be eligible, you must have experience interviewing for the position. Preferably the position is your job or one you have experience working. To see an example, check out How to Interview a Salesperson or How to Interview a Consulting Partner.

We are open to submissions on “How to Interview (Any Fulltime Position).” Submissions should be between 300 – 600 words, accompanied by a photo and brief bio of author. Email your submissions to David@SmartRecruiters.com with “How to Interview (Your Position Here)” in the subject line. Within ten days, I will let you know if and when you will be featured on the newly redesigned SmartRecruiting blog.  Below is a basic format we are looking for:

Intro:

The intro paragraph should tell what is interviewing a _____  all about. A basic overview. It could (but doesn’t have to) address the following: How does one know when it is time to hire _____ ? What should one expect to gain from a _____ ?  What is being a _____  all about?

Body:

What are the essential questions to ask a _____  ? Why? And what do you look for in the interviewee’s answers?

… You can go beyond three questions, if you think that is necessary.

Conclusion:

3. You happen to hop in the elevator with the hiring manager, who is about to interview someone for the _____  position, what advice do you give her/him?

Bio:

Two Sentences. A basic what do you do. With two link backs: one to company page, and one to your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Personal Page.

Please attach picture (at least 300 x 300 in size).

Good interview techniques are essential. Companies that practice good interviewing techniques will make better hires.  Help out your fellow practitioner, and share a good interview approach for any position. Together lets better the practice of hiring.